Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland awards this Certificate to Chester Chandler in recognition and appreciation.

Chester Chandler aka “Memphis Gold” is an international bluesman who has brought the joy of music to hundreds of thousands of fans around the country, and around the world.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955, he has long time ties to the Silver Spring area. We recognize his courage as one of the heroic rescuers of survivors of the CSX train crash in Silver Spring in 1996.

Your love of country is well reflected by your proud military service in the United States Navy and your now frequent trips to perform for America’s soldiers and sailors at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and many other venues.

We salute you for your dedication to traditional music and your steadfast commitment to public service and to our community.

The County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland awards this Certificate to Jay Summerour in recognition and appreciation of your inspired music and your significant contribution to the America’s blues tradition.

For more than 40 years, you have perfected a musical technique that has made you one of the leading harmonica players in the United States.

Your artistry has complemented and enhanced the performances of many of our Nation’s most accomplished and well known musicians and vocalists.

We proudly recognize you as a strong supporter of America’s veterans, our musical community, and one of Montgomery County’s “favorite sons.”

The County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland awards this Certificate to Jonathan Musgrave in recognition and appreciation of your many talents of singer, songwriter, and guitarist. You are a favorite son of Silver Spring. Known as “Jonny Grave” to your legion of fans in our community and throughout the country, you bring traditional music alive with your passion, intensity, and reverence for the giants of the blues and folk genre. We appreciate your creative talent and your enduring contributions to the musical landscape of our county. We thank you for your generous gifts of song, story, and guitar.

The County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland awards this Certificate to Rebuilding Together Montgomery County in recognition and appreciationOf the important contributions that your organization has made to improve the quality of life for many of our county’s veterans, active duty service members and military families.

Your team of staff and volunteers has mobilized significant financial resources to repair and retrofit the homes of veterans around the county, thanking them for their service by making their homes safe and accessible.

Our county is stronger for Rebuilding Together Montgomery County’s mission, its energy, and its vision for dynamic partnerships between the private and public sectors to help America’s veterans.

We pay tribute to their “neighbors helping neighbors” philosophy and their tireless efforts on behalf of our military women, men and their families in need.

Inspirational Veterans Day remarks were offered by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and Commission on Veterans Affairs Chair, Bill Gray.

Montgomery County Council President Andrews and Councilmembers Valerie Ervin and Duchy Trachtenberg presented County Council proclamations to Buffalo Soldiers Joseph Hairston and James Daugherty. And we recognized another Buffalo Soldier in the audience, Mr. Charles Williams.

A Certificate of Appreciation from County Executive Leggett was presented to Rebuilding Together Montgomery County for its work in helping to make the homes of our veterans safe and accessible.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Please join us for the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc.’s Tribute to America’s Veterans benefit concert on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring. The concert is sponsored by the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc., in partnership with the Montgomery County Commission on Veterans Affairs and Building Bridges America, Inc.

This exciting evening of entertainment will feature performances by Silver Spring’s own singer-songwriter Jonny Grave and the dazzling blues duo Memphis Gold and Jay Summerour.

Proceeds from this exciting musical event will benefit, “Rebuilding Together Montgomery,” a non-profit housing organization that assists veterans through home renovations. There will also be remarks by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and special presentations to famed Buffalo Soldiers Joseph Hairston and James Harden Daugherty by members of the Montgomery County Council.

Doors open at 7 pm. The program begins at 7:30 pm. Please join us for an exciting evening of entertainment to salute our Veterans community in Montgomery County.

The Round House Theatre is located at 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009. The Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. is pleased to announce that its "Tribute to America's Veterans" concert will be held at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 from7:30 to 9:00 pm.

The concert, which will benefit a veterans service organization in Montgomery County, will be cosponsored by the Montgomery County Commission on Veterans Affairs.

This year's program will feature the acoustic blues duo of Memphis Gold and Jay Summerour, as well as Silver Spring's own, Jonny Grave!

The Round House Theatre is located at 8461 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland

Monday, August 24, 2009

Pictures from Mixed Unity's Peace Walk in Silver Spring on August 22, 2009. The purpose of the Walk was to express messages of peace and non-violence and to honor the memory of Tai Lam. Participants marched to Pyramid Atlantic's store on Georgia Avenue from the bus stop at the corner of Piney Branch Road and Arliss Street where the Montgomery Blair High School student was murdered in November 2009.

Lee Development Group is at the one yard line in its years-long negotiations with Montgomery County to build a Fillmore Music Hall in downtown Silver Spring.

For the last six years, Lee Development Group has been working with County Executive Isiah Leggett on a deal that would give the county land for a 32,000-square-foot Fillmore music center run by Beverly Hills-based Live Nation in exchange for the county’s approval of a future mixed-use development directly behind the development between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street.

The developer says a deal is imminent.

“We’re saying 30 to 60 days, but hopefully, we’re closer than that. We have several meetings over the next couple of weeks and are wrapping up the details,” said Bruce Lee, president of Lee Development Group.

The deal seems simple — a developer gives the county land and is promised future approval — but the swap is unprecedented in Montgomery County and since the mixed-use project could be years off, Lee wants to be sure it will get the same approval in the future that it would if the project was before the planning board today.

“Basically our mixed-use plan would be within the setback and boundaries of the current zoning. A deal like this that deals with future development has never been done in the county before, so a process had to be created. It’s really creative thinking for economic development. There is so much support on all fronts to get the music hall moving forward, that the deal makes sense,” Lee said.

The music hall will rise behind the historic facade of a 1949 J.C. Penney store that fronts Colesville Road. Lee has demolished the interior portion of the building that was vacated in 1989 and, once it gets the green light from the county, will redevelop it into an approximately 1,000-seat venue for concerts, comedy acts, films and art festivals.

The county will own the site and lease it to Live Nation. Live Nation could be reached for comment.

The two- to three-story music hall, once eyed by the Birchmere and 9:30 Club, will host up to 2,000 people for standing room events and join the emerging arts corridor along Colesville Road that is already home to the Round House Theater and the AFI Silver Theater.

The state and county will each contribute $4 million to build the center.

There are no final plans for Lee’s future mixed-use project, though an April 1 presentation to the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission envisioned a 7-story, 215,000-square-foot office building on Georgia Avenue and a 14-story, 139,000-square-foot hotel behind the music center on Fenton Street.

Despite the drawn-out and, at times frustrating process of finalizing the deal with the county, Lee said the project is important to his family’s company.

“We’re a long-time family business in Silver Spring. We’ve been here for generations and we believe in doing what’s right for the area.”

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Montgomery County developer said he expects to reach a deal with the county within the next 30 to 60 days to build a long-awaited music hall in Silver Spring.

County Executive Ike Leggett announced a deal two years ago with California-based Live Nation that would bring a Fillmore Music Hall to a former J.C. Penney store site on Silver Spring's Colesville Road. The deal would preserve the historic facade of the store, which has sat empty for nearly 20 years. Leggett pushed the County Council last year to approve $4 million in funds and special land-use rule changes that were supposed to pave the way for a deal with the developer, Lee Development Group.

But the path to the deal has been long, and Lee and Leggett are still trying to hammer out a deal, with the sticking points in their debate being kept private.

Lee said his company is being asked to donate a "very valuable" piece of land before it has created a plan to build up the rest of the adjacent property it owns. In return, Lee said he wants assurances that the current county's rules for development won't change when his company decides to develop the rest of its property.

"We're not asking for additional density, we're not asking for money," Lee said. "We're not asking for anything outside the box."

The county official who is Leggett's point person on the project could not be reached for comment.

The Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board, which supports building the Fillmore, has complained about the negotiations' lack of openness. Chairman Darian Unger said he is pleased to hear that a deal may be close, adding that his group has spent a long time waiting on "pins and needles."

Efforts to get a live music hall in Silver Spring date several years, first with the county unsuccessfully trying to get Alexandria's Birchmere Music Hall to open a second venue in Silver Spring.

County Councilman Marc Elrich, D-At Large, who voted against the zoning changes, said he and other council members were told last year that approval for the project was "critical" and "couldn't afford delay." He said it's "frustrating" not to have heard any updates on the project since.

Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-At Large, said it was "troubling" that the project hadn't moved forward faster and that the County Council would have a "robust conversation" about the project if a deal isn't reached soon.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The DC Blues Society brought its 5th Annual Fish Fry 'n Blues 'n Bikes to Silver Spring for the first time this year. Hosted at the American Legion Cissell Saxon Post 41 on Sligo Avenue, the popular event attracted folks from throughout the metro Washington region. Guests were treated to excellent food, a motorcycle contest, eleven blues bands, and hours of dancing. The Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. was pleased to have assisted in finding a location for this wonderful event.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The American Film Institute has launched a new video portal on AFI.com featuring hundreds of videos from its AFI Archive.

The Web site launch coincides with TV Land PRIME's broadcast of the AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Michael Douglas on July 19. Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and other Hollywood legends attending the gala tribute are featured, along with memorable selections from the previous 36 AFI Life Achievement Award tributes.

The collection will be regularly augmented with videos selected from the AFI Archive, which contains 10,000 hours of material produced during AFI’s 42-year history, much of which has never been seen by the general public.

Videos available on the site stream directly from AFI’s YouTube channel. In addition to accessing the video content, users can post comments on the AFI.com/video site as well as embed the videos on other Web sites, blogs and social networking pages.

Monday, June 22, 2009

"October Country" has won the grand jury award at the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival.

Winners were announced Saturday at the culmination of the weeklong festival in Silver Spring, Md. Fest screened 122 films from 58 countries.

"October Country," directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, documents the multigenerational story of a working-class family coping with poverty, teen pregnancy, foster care, child molestation and war.

The world feature award went to "Mugabe and the White African," directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, which documents Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's land-seizure program.

Short film trophy went to "12 Notes Down," directed by Andreas Koefoed, which documents a 14-year-old star choir performer after his voice starts changing.

Special jury mention went to "Salt," directed by Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks, which chronicles photographer Murray Frederick's journey into the remote salt flats in South Australia.

The music documentary nod went to "Riseup," directed by Luciano Blotta. The film chronicles three Jamaican musicians as they fight for a place in the overcrowded reggae field.

The Cinematic Vision Award went to "Old Partner," directed by Lee Chung-ryoul. It follows the relationship between an old farmer in a remote Korean village and his 40-year-old ox. The Witness award went to Landon Van Soest, which examines two multimillion-dollar international aid projects in Africa that may actually be undermining the very communities they seek to help.

The Animal Content in Entertainment grant went to "Cinema Chimp," by David Grabias.The Writers Guild of America named writer-director Nicole Opper as the winner of the WGA Documentary Screenplay Award for her film "Off and Running," a story focused on an accomplished African-American teenager adopted by Jewish lesbians.

The featured attraction of the first Annual Silver Spring Blues Festival at Downtown Silver Spring was Memphis Gold and his band. Chet Chandler aka "Memphis Gold" is an internationally acclaimed bluesman, wildly popular in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Chandler has long time ties to the Silver Spring area, where he raised his family and lived for nearly 40 years. He's a legend in Silver Spring history as one of the heroic rescuers of survivors of a CSX train crash in 1996.

About Us

The Silver Spring Town Center Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that has been established to provide community-based programming for the new Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza located at the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street in downtown Silver Spring.
The SSTCI is the result of a long process of community involvement and engagement to support the development of downtown Silver Spring. It was created to infuse community spirit and involvement in the new Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza.
Our website is www.silverspringtowncenter.com